Candles
by Melancholy Scissors
Summary: Billy has doubts about Charlie's latest rescue mission. Onesided BillyCharlie. Spoilers for The Wilderness Wolf.


**Rating**: G, unless you're bothered by slashy thoughts. :)

**Pairing**: Billy Raven/Charlie Bone (Most likely one-sided)

**Warnings**: Slash, SPOILERS for "The Wilderness Wolf", this fanfic is not Beta'd.

_AN: I was never a fan of this couple, but I always thought that it would be a popular pairing. I was surprised to find out that it isn't popular at all (in fact, Billy doesn't seem to be popular amongst fanart and fanfiction FULL STOP), admittedly probably because Billy is pretty young. So, I decided to write a fanfic. You can be eight and still crush on older kids, right?_

* * *

He wasn't quite sure when exactly it had happened, but at some point during the time that he had arrived at Bloor's academy, Billy Raven had decided that he liked Charlie Bone. 

Of course, even when he had first met Charlie, there had been a kind of magnetism (the kind that not even Joshua Tilpin could have matched) that made Billy want to be his friend. Back then he had been snitching for Ezekiel Bloor, who had taken a special interest in Charlie as well, and therefore being Charlie's friend had been out of the question. Billy had still tried, but he couldn't blame Charlie or any of his friends for shunning him. He was a little weird, and anyway, he certainly wouldn't have liked having all of his important secrets betrayed to a dangerous and frightening man for the price of a mug of cocoa.

Charlie's friendliness persisted- or, rather, Billy's own curiosity and yearning to be friends with him –and Billy decided to be daring. He decided that he didn't want to snitch for the Bloors anymore: he wanted to make friends. Ezekiel had promised and promised that Billy would get a family soon, but that had never happened, and Billy decided that he would much rather like some nicer friends. He would much rather like Charlie Bone.

Oh, there had been trouble from that, but it had eventually culminated to Uncle Paton scaring the Bloors into signing an agreement that Billy was allowed to visit anyone he liked for the weekends. Billy was allowed to visit Charlie, not in hiding, or in worry that he would be made to leave prematurely, but as a normal kid. It was really fun, and it made him like Charlie Bone even more. One time Charlie decided that they would run all the way to the Pet's Café, and he grabbed Billy's hand tightly, so that they could run together. Charlie had laughed all the way, and so had Billy, but the albino had also been blushing furiously at Charlie's fingers entwined in his. Luckily, running always made you hot, so Billy never had to worry about it.

So Billy had become Charlie's friend, and an ally of the other "good" endowed, too. It had caused him trouble with those in power, but he had good friends, and he could live through it. They certainly found him useful, and sometimes Billy wondered if this was the biggest reason they appeared to like him (such a faux liking had happened before to him, after all), but he was happy enough with the situation he was in now.

Charlie had recently asked him to come home over the weekend as a part of his latest plan. Charlie wanted to go looking for Asa, to try to rescue him from wherever the vengeful Bloors had trapped him, and he once again needed use of Billy's endowment. The other boys in the dorm were fast asleep, snoring loudly, but Billy couldn't get to sleep. Charlie's self-righteous "Missions" always worried him, especially when they involved him, and it never helped his mind to rest. Possible scenarios- always the worst –floated around in his mind in terrible disarray. Billy got up, put on his glasses, and walked over to Charlie. He looked down at the older boy, and sighed.

"Charlie?" he hissed.

Charlie woke with a start, and blinked dazedly as his eyes accustomed to the light.

"Billy?" Charlie said tentatively, rubbing his eyes, "What is it?"

"Charlie," Billy whispered, frowning, "suppose we don't find Asa? Suppose your friend was wrong, and it isn't him?"

The older boy blinked in confusion as he tried to make sense of what Billy so desperately wanted to talk about in the middle of the night. "Not Asa?" he asked, staring at Billy as if he were mad, "Billy, you said that the wolf needed help. No one's seen Asa all term-" At that moment, one of the boys in the dormitory gave a loud snort, and Charlie hesitated, before adding, "_Whoever_ it is, we need to help him. I owe it to him…"

"Charlie, why is Asa so important to you all of a sudden?" Billy asked. He hadn't meant to sound unreasonable, but admittedly, it was a question that had been tugging away at the back of his mind for days. Charlie hadn't particularly liked the "bad" children, from what Billy reckoned, and Asa appearing to switch sides had changed Charlie's opinion of the boy so strongly, that Billy found him to be very out of character.

Looking taken aback, Charlie faltered slightly with his reply. "Well, it's just… We would never have helped the Red King without him, Billy, you know that. Asa was on the other side, and he risked getting his own side mad, just so he could help us. I owe it to him."

Billy nodded. "That's true," he said. Charlie was essentially a nice boy, even if he wasn't thoughtful sometimes (Billy reluctantly thought back to when Dagbert the Drowner had been following Charlie around and being nasty to his friends- including Billy). It was just his character, and Billy had to accept that Charlie would try his best to help anyone that the boy felt indebted or sorry for.

"Besides," Charlie added, looking directly at Billy, "we all did the same for you. Why should Asa be any different?"

Billy looked down at the ground. He was starting to blush- something that had been becoming unfortunately common with him, but which was also easily a part of still being a child (that was what he kept on telling himself, after all). "I know, sorry, Charlie," he mumbled, and scurried back over to his own bed. "Goodnight."

Charlie stared after the albino, and shook his head. Billy was incredibly strange sometimes, but he was a good friend. "Goodnight, Billy," he whispered, and rolled over to go back to sleep again.

Billy sat on the end of his bed, and shuddered. He should have been happy to be a part of the plan. He should have been just as keen as anyone to help rescue Asa. He should have shared the enthusiasm and drive needed to keep plans underway and give the underdogs a fighting chance. Billy should have tried to be a bit more like Charlie.

But he wasn't.

And with the strange and unexpected warmth that he felt whenever Charlie looked at him; whenever he smiled at him; whenever he took the time to just _be friendly_ with him, Billy Raven was so glad that he wasn't Charlie Bone at all.


End file.
